We've all had some bad experiences with a companies, but it's especially bad when you love the product. But is a bad customer experience worth abandoning the business altogether? Take a look at this week's problem and help come up with the best solution.

Note: This week we're giving something new a shot. We're going to take a specific problem with broader implications and try to come up with a good solution together. I'm going to start us off this week, but if you've got a problem you'd like to pose to the Lifehacker community just check the end of this post for instructions.

Last weekend my cousin needed a place to stay in Los Angeles so he stayed with me. As a thank you, he ordered some cupcakes for me at Dot's Cupcakes and told me to go in a few days later to pick them up. This was unnecessary but very nice of him. When going in to pick them up, they try to charge me for the cupcakes. I let them know they're supposed to be a gift, which might have been indicated by the gift bow on it and the fact that the credit card they were supposed to have charged, along with its other information, was on the back of the order form. Furthermore, I've stopped in to Dot's on a weekly basis for the past six months (with a few exceptions). I don't spend a ton of money each time I go, but I'm definitely a regular customer. I don't expect special treatment, but you'd think that maybe they'd remember how often I visit and how that might suggest I'm not trying to scam them out of a box of cupcakes. They didn't even offer to look into it. I had to ask three times before they were even willing to call and look into the issue. This was after I was accused of holding up the line after discussing it with them for less than 30 seconds. When they finally called I'm not entirely sure what happened, but it took 20 minutes to sort out the mess.

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While this is far from the end of the world, the customer service at Dot's has never been stellar and this incident made me wonder why I've ever bothered giving them my money. I do like the product, but I hate supporting businesses that don't care about their customers. I feel like I'm better off without the cupcakes all together (which is a lot healthier, too). Ultimately what it comes down to is this: should be tougher on businesses that treat us poorly, even if we like what they sell, or does setting the bar too high essentially rule out the majority of businesses we'll interact with in our lives?

What are your criteria for abandoning a company due to a bad experience? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Do you have a problem that needs solving and want help from the Lifehacker community? Email us with the subject "What's Your Problem? Question" (make sure it's that subject exactly or your email will get missed) and we might post it in a future Monday. The best questions are ones that deal with common situations many of us face from time to time. If you have a question that's pretty specific, try the Open Thread instead.

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